BULAWAYO High Court judge Justice Martin Makonese, sitting at the Hwange High Court circuit, on Friday returned a special verdict on a Lupane man who killed his grandfather, after a psychiatrist reported that he suffered from a mental illness during the time he committed the offence.
SENIOR COURT REPORTER
Ngqabutho Sibanda (32) was then commuted to Mlondolozi Mental Health Institution for treatment as he was deemed dangerous to society.
Sibanda was facing charges of assaulting his grandfather Dulini Ncube (86) with a wooden stool and iron bar leading to his instant death. However, the psychiatrist, who examined Sibanda, Elena Poskotchinova, said he was mentally unstable when he committed the offence and urged the court to return a special verdict.
“When examined by me, the accused appeared to be very psychotic with pressure of speech, flight of ideas and was verbally and physically aggressive. He displayed delusion of persecution (believing that his neighbour who borrowed money from him and did not want to pay back) bewitched him. He has no insight into his mental condition,” Poskotchinova said.
“He started to have mental problems sometime in 2007, with a history of auditory hallucinations (voice hallucination), has been treated at Lupane but defaulted treatment. Started to hear voices which explained to him that he was bewitched by five people (neighbour, his wife, brother, father and grandfather) and wanted to kill him,” the psychiatrist’s report read.
Charges against Sibanda were that on October 26 in 2008, he went to Petros Ncube’s homestead naked and on arrival struck Julia Ngwenya with a fist on the mouth without saying a word. Ngwenya and another relative, Sibonile Ncube, ran away.
Sibanda went to where his grandfather Ncube was seated and struck him once with a wooden stool on the head. Sibonile then called Petros who intervened and managed to ward him off.
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However, Sibanda armed himself with an iron bar and charged towards Petros, who ran away. He then turned to Ncube and struck him with the iron bar on the head. Ncube died on the spot.
